| Austria's wonderful capital Vienna spreads along both | | | | the ones on the Ring are the illustrious, beautiful and |
| sides of the "Blue" Danube at the very foothills of the | | | | comfortable Cafe Sperl; any of the cafes near the |
| Alps. The city is a smorgasbord of Baroque with a | | | | Naschmarkt, Freud's house, the house designed by |
| dash of art nouveau. Circling the old town is the striking | | | | Wittgenstein, and gorgeous St. Charles Church which a |
| revivalist architecture of the Ringstrasse Vienna's main | | | | must visit site Hawelka; Brauenerhof, where the |
| boulevard. These buildings range from the charming | | | | lacerating and hilarious writer Thomas Bernhard spent |
| Opera House to the monumental Natural History | | | | his mornings; and many others. While the Biedermaier |
| Museum. Nestled throughout the city are the graceful | | | | pulse of Vienna, long associated with the upper-middle |
| art-nouveau buildings of turn-of-the century architects | | | | class and collective repression, may be found along |
| Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos. The buildings are one of | | | | the Ring, its darkly satirical flip side is found in these and |
| the many remnants of the artistic and intellectual | | | | similar haunts. |
| flowering that took place in Vienna at the turn of the | | | | If the Ringstrasse is the pulse of the city the old city is |
| century. Of course the buildings and the city's history is | | | | the heart. This is where the city's main attractions are |
| only a backdrop for the daily culture that can still be | | | | located and this area being a pedestrian zone it is also |
| found in the concert halls opera houses and cafes. | | | | a great place to stroll. For an overview climb the bell |
| The heart beat of the city can be found along | | | | tower of the St. Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral |
| Ringstrasse. Vienna is a 19th-century invention. As one | | | | built in 1258 is easily identifiable by the zigzag pattern of |
| walk around the area one has to take a break at a | | | | its roof tiles. Between St. Stephen's and the State |
| sidewalk cafe and have one of the city's superb | | | | Opera House is Karntnerstrasse Vienna's main |
| pastries. The Viennese invented cafe society and | | | | shopping street. Nearby is the Albertina museum which |
| there is no better pastime than to linger over a torte | | | | houses more than 200 000 drawings and works by |
| read a newspaper and watches the Viennese. Each | | | | Albrecht Durer among others. At another corner of the |
| café has its own personality; while the lavish | | | | old city is the Hofburg Palace a massive complex that |
| cafes inside the Ringstrasse are most impressive the | | | | contains the Burgkapelle – the chapel where the |
| smaller ones just outside have a charm and | | | | Boys Choir sings Mass, the Stallburg – where |
| authenticity that should also not be missed. Don't just | | | | the Spanish Riding School performs on Sunday |
| try only coffee one can even try the Austrian fruit | | | | mornings and Wednesday evenings the Imperial |
| teas and black teas; they are so flavorful that one will | | | | Treasuries – Habsburg Crown Jewels- and the |
| wonder what one has been drinking all these years. | | | | elaborate Austrian National Library. All this and much |
| Other cafes that are not as stodgy and expensive as | | | | more is Vienna. |